Blackhawks vs. Oilers: 3 Things to Watch in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers

Throughout the 2019-20 NHL Season, the Chicago Blackhawks could accurately be described as an emotional roller coaster. After a few months off, the Blackhawks will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

The last time the Chicago Blackhawks were in the postseason, everything seemed as if it had collapsed. The top-seeded Hawks were swept in the first round in only four games by the Nashville Predators, who had just barely squeaked their way into the postseason. The goal-scoring dried up, the defense was lackluster, and the wheels just simply came off. The series was quite frankly a disaster.

Now over three years later, the Blackhawks are ready to make their return to the playoffs with some vengeance. Prior to the global pandemic, Chicago was playing some of the best hockey that they had played all season. They had won 5 out of their last 7 games, which included three impressive victories over the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Florida Panthers, and their Stanley Cup Qualifier opponent, the Edmonton Oilers.

It will be interesting to see if the Hawks can use that momentum and the four-month break from play to excel in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Oilers feature a squad of very young, but very talented forwards. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have absolutely torched the NHL this season, tallying the most points in the entire league with 95 and 110 respectively. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins has also quietly had a very impressive campaign, as he crossed the 60 point plateau for the second consecutive season.

Defensively, the Oilers feature many big bodies that have a knack for shot-blocking. Their defensive core only features two players under 6’3″, so the Hawks will have to rely on their speed and skill in order to succeed. Oscar Klefbom led the league in blocked shots with 180, and Darnell Nurse was also 9th in the league, as he tallied 141 of his own. Another big body the Hawks will have to be on the lookout for is 6’3″ forward Zack Kassian. Kassian thrives on dishing out humungous hits, as he registered 157 hits this season. He has a whopping 1,101 hits in only 525 games played during his NHL career.

If the Oilers do have one potential weak spot, it comes between the pipes. Journeyman Mike Smith joined the orange and blue this season, and his numbers have not been the greatest since his arrival. He currently has a GAA of 2.95 and a SV% of only .902. Mikko Koskinen is the other option in net for Edmonton, and he currently boasts a GAA of 2.75 and a SV% of .917.

The upcoming series has many things to be on the lookout for and many what-ifs, as the Hawks make their first playoff appearance since that miserable exit in 2017. Here are three things to watch for in the upcoming series against the Oilers:

1. Blackhawks Goaltender Situation

The Blackhawks have four goaltenders currently listed on their playoff roster. The quartet includes veteran Corey Crawford, and three young guns, Malcolm Subban, Collin Delia, and Kevin Lankinen.

All the way through training camp, it seemed as if Delia or Subban would have to become the starting goaltender in the series. Crawford was deemed as “unfit to participate”, and the Blackhawks traded former netminder Robin Lehner to the Vegas Golden Knights back in February. This raised a lot of question marks, as Delia only has 18 NHL games under his belt, and Subban has been very shaky this season. Subban posted a .890 SV% and allowed an average of 3.18 goals against during his time with the Knights this season prior to being traded to Chicago.

This past Saturday, everything changed when Corey Crawford finally rejoined the team at practice. It was announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19, and that was why he had not been able to participate during the first two weeks of training camp. Now that Crawford is back healthy and traveling with the team to Edmonton, it will be very interesting to see what his role will be since he has only had one day of practice prior to flying to Alberta.

Having not played in roughly four months, and only having one day of practice? This could be a very big concern for the Blackhawks, especially knowing Corey’s injury history. Can Crawford come in and play up to expectations, or will Delia, Subban, or Lankinen have to step up big time in the national spotlight as Scott Darling did in 2015? This will be something to keep an eye on.

3. Blackhawks Special Teams

Chicago’s powerplay has been absolutely dreadful this season, as they ranked 28th in the league with a conversion rate of only 15.2 percent on the man-advantage. This needs to be better, especially during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

When the Hawks won their three cups, their conversion percentage on the PP was at least 16.6% or better each season. As I alluded to earlier, the playoffs are a different type of atmosphere than the regular season, and the Hawks have to cash in on the powerplay against a physical team like Edmonton in order to advance.

While the Blackhawks did have a pretty good penalty kill (9th in the NHL) during the regular season, it will be that much more important vs. Edmonton. The Oilers had the top powerplay unit in the entire NHL this season and with guys like McDavid and Draisaitl ready to pounce at any moment, it will be something that the Blackhawks need to monitor closely if they want to be competitive in the series.

Edmonton scored on a whopping 29.5% of their opportunities this season with the man advantage, so it’s an area that they are lethal in. The addition of Calvin De Haan back into the lineup will help out a bit, but at the same time, the announcement of Brent Seabrook not participating in the postseason is a blow to the Hawks. Seabrook has a boatload of playoff experience on the PK, and his leadership abilities will be missed on a relatively young Chicago blueline.

Both Chicago and Edmonton have features that give them an advantage over their opponent, so I expect the series to be a tightly-contested shootout. Ultimately, I believe this is why the special teams play is going to be so important. Whichever team plays better in these opportunities is going to win the series, and we can only hope that the Windy City emerges as victorious.